Categories

Archives

Also

Rowntree

RSS Feed

Not an Insult

November 11, 2009

There are people who make comics on the internet. Christ, all that waiting and it’s fucking not even funny. Hey, it’s november 11th though, which is pretty much the least funny day of the year, so, uh, yeah. Now i must go.

weirdly yours,

WR

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

This entry was posted on November 11, 2009 at 4:57 pm and is filed under Subnormality.

A great graphical representation of one of my favorite quotes by Michel Foucault:
“…if you are not like everybody else, then you are abnormal, if you are abnormal , then you are sick. These three categories, not being like everybody else, not being normal and being sick are in fact very different but have been reduced to the same thing.”

I appreciate the last panel,while it expresses the next best point of view, it misses the very best POV.

The best POV, IMHO, is “Why compare yourself to anyone at all?”

I didn’t say not to use folks as role models, or examples to avoid being like…but you are not them and vice versa, and making a comparison is unnecessary.

For example, you may be more, or less (fill in the blank____) in some way, but you don’t know what they started with and anyway, you’re working with what you have to become what you want to be in the best way you know how. What difference does it make if someone else is (fill in the blank____)?

Wow. Thank you for today’s strip. I guess there are all sorts of little quirks and eccentricities that set us apart. And, really, that’s what we all have in common. I think you made me feel a little less isolated, when I didn’t even know I was feeling isolated.

I’ve been reading your site for a long time, and I always enjoy it (delays or no!), but this is one of your best comics yet. The delivery is perfect, the art is perfect, and the message is one we could afford to hear more often.

I often find myself annoyed by the sometimes overbearing pessimism of this comic. In the past I even considered discontinuing my readership, yet I was always felt compelled to come back and read every word of every update. I think this particular strip exemplifies why.

I realize how backhanded that must sound, but I don’t mean it that way. The message in this strip has far more impact given the body of work from which it comes. It’s like someone sitting you down and reminding you of all the awful truths in the world only to end with “but it’s not all bad…” — and you ultimately end up in a better place for it. This balance has been kept quite nicely through most of Subnormality’s history. Good stuff.

Awesome, that is something that really needed to be said. A lot of people say you (hypothetically, not anyone in particular) should act ‘normal’, as that’s what society expects. Well, screw them! Normal is a point of view, a matter of opinion, not some ideal that everyone should strive to mirror. Eh, your comic expresses that better than I can. Well played, a brilliant comic as per usual.

Hey I was just thinking this comic over — what’s really surprising about it is that it’s not at all sanctimonious. I remember various times in childhood being told that some term I (or someone else) was using as an insult was “not an insult” and it always seemed like a meaningless thing to say. This strip imbues it with some meaning.

I have been reading your comics faithfully for a while now, and I’ve loved nearly every one of them. This one was no exception, and made me break down in tears at how true these categories are. Thank you. Thank you, from one of the girls who was called weird. It’s good to be here.

Great comic! I’m the girl who eats paper and the girl who has never had sex yet is perfectly happy and fulfilled (let alone never had a relationship, something I find which boggles some peoples minds), the 4am internet dude and the ‘true fans’. Of course, I think a P. butter + banana and bacon sammich would be really good too, but I never tried it. Now I must.

Subnormality is one of the webcomics I enjoy the most. The drawing is amazing, and I just love the huge walls of text and the amazingly insightful words of wisdom in every single comment. I found about it a few months ago, and I just had to go through the whole archive. At least 5 categories in this comic apply to me. I think one of the XKCD memes totally applies to this comic:

I followed a link here expecting to see a “ha-ha” comic strip and the first few frames I read I thought “Hey, this isn’t funny, what gives?”. So then I sat up, shook my head, re-assessed the situation and started reading from the top without any preconceived notions this time, and I discovered a moving homage to humankind that’s going to stay with me for a long time.

Man, what a great portrayal of real people. I love how you not only make people laugh, but make people think. If only people would take more pride in their weirdness we’d all treat each other more like humans…

Ill concur with the sentiment that this is an opus magnum. Beautifully done.

But if anyone wants to make this comic really click, listen to the song ‘Weird Revolution” by the Butthole Surfers. They complement each other like bullets and guns (credit to the best/worst movie simile ever from Lost Boys)

” ‘Wyrd’ is a concept in Old English and Old Norse culture roughly corresponding to sacred, fate, karma, or synchronicity.” Eventually this term evolved into the modern english term weird. huh. loved the comic, would gladly buy a poster.

Wow. That is eerily on target for so many people I know. I long ago gave up on normal. Weird is the new normal.
PS. Just asked my best (girl)friend if she’d do porn. She whacked me over the head with a magazine and said ‘Of course silly, but no-one will ever ask me to.’

Greetings, I’ve been reading Sub for a long time but never felt the call to post a comment, but I had to say that I loved the bald dude in the ‘Never Smile’ panel and I hope I can draw that perfect in the future.

My daughter sent this to me. I keep reading it over and over and over. I always taught her the word “normal” is completely meaningless. Life is bigger and sturdier than a flimsy concept called “normal.”

A friend linked this comic on her facebook page. I’ve never been to your site before but now about 5 hours of graveyard shift later I’ve read all of Subnormality. Start to finish, incredible, thought provoking work. I’ll be back weekly.

This one is truly a gem. My baby sister used to be terrified of “creepy people.” Recently she’s admitted to me that the creepy people are actually somewhat interesting. I sent this comic to her right away.

YOU RULE! i love your website🙂 im munching through the archive at the moment and its awesome … belive me i haven’t got a lot of patience with other comic sites but yours is out of this planet !!! keep it up!!! and have fun🙂

I have to disagree with your lack of normal, as your *used to be* pink hair is a perfect example… past, present, and future. Started off happy and fine, society reducing to compliance, slowly ideas are lost. conformity replaces soul. eventually becoming what you used to hate … and eventually hating what you used to be, hiding it to just survive… society diminished to singular elements … a brave new world! Some of your ‘weird’ ones show the characteristics of being ‘normal’.

Man, ever since I discovered Subnormality a few months ago, I’ve read all the comics and have been a weekly customer. And every single week, you deliver with great comedy and insight (and walls of text).

But every once in a while, you outdo yourself. This one and the Line, despite not being humorous at all, are easily the two best comics of Subnormality. Of course, it’s great if you keep up with the comedy and crazy art, but it’s awesome when a webcomic takes itself seriously once in a while. Keep up the great work, and keep being weird!

My husband and I got married about 6 weeks ago and this comic reminded me of the ceremony. Over a couple of weeks of pre-marital counselling, the pastor who performed the ceremony just talked about how my husband and I are weird, it fit us perfectly. Weird is the new normal indeed!

LDP i don’t think PHG is normal she is just not zealous about being weird. Re-Dyeing her hair was a necessary for financial survival.
Speaking of PHG (who STILL has no boyfriend!) in panel #5 she and her gal-pal are used as examples of sexual experience diversity. does this mean PHG is still a virgin? Good God RW, you are so cruel to that women! have you no compassion? have you no shame? ( I must stop obsessing about PHG… she is just a fictional character )

zwrdl: The thinking behind that was a)that we all compare ourselves to others no matter what, so b)if you go ahead and compare yourself to real people in all their glorious weirdness then you’ll like the result because you’ll feel less alone instead of inadequate. I think that about covers it…

Abe: I appreciate what you say, so thanks. And please know that i (and the comic) get depressed because i love the world, not because i hate it. Sounds cheesy, but there it is.

Leak: Word.

vanetz: That is awesome.

No Hablo Ingles: If you mean why in general, it was to make the word “Weird” itself fit in with the visual theme of the comic. If you mean why the “R” in particular, no special reason.

Adam: Yeah, i threw in the opening line from their Weirdest song, as it weirdly expressed sentiments of togetherness.

Reignonyourparade: Ha! Good eye, glad someone noticed my re-booring.

JoeR: Hey, right on. I thought Digg had given up on crazy ol’ winston rowntree, but perhaps not.

Line Noise: Either she’s a virgin or she isn’t, just like everybody else. And if paper has no calories then maybe i should start eating it again…

And thanks to everyone for the comments! I’m always super-glad to read people’s reactions and some of this week’s are really staying with me. Is that weird? I bloody well hope so.

Oh, and for those who might want a poster of this, I’m too busy and stupid to be set up to sell such things presently but i’m hoping to kind of get my act together with regard to that next year (got a printer in mind) so hang in there, if i do posters this’ll be one of them.

Excellent comic, but I’ve always thought that the what’s weirdest in this world is that if even the most insignificant person in the world farts in a whirlwind, it changes everything, and beneath this reality of infinite matter, there are infinitely more realities where everything is different because said person farted one microsecond later than he did in this reality.

You’re a genius, Winston, you should make a book, on paper, so it can be preserved in a salt mine forever, and when all of civilization is destroyed, some of you can live forever. You deserve it.

Hurting a best friend hits home and still don’t know why i did such a thing. I have repented and that is a botheration likewise OH well–I’m far too perfect anyway So Sorry!! Wish I were another category

hi,
my friend aravind has sent me links to ur comics a few times before and each time they have blown me away… and this one was surely the best of them all. for some reason, i’ve never thought of going and looking up ur work myself. but i’ve decided that from now on, i’ll do that…

I like this comment, but I think the author misses the concept of what it means to be normal (how appropriate.) Ever consider that the way we use normal does not mean being absolutely the same, but being unremarkable as far as we know? Being “normal” simply means that most other people see you and associate you with a group of other people, and by that standard, there are a lot of normal people. Think about it: before you know the secret of a person that is listed below each panel in the comic, you might think of them as normal. After you find out the secret, they are still the same person, so why should you think of them differently? Normal has more to do with whats on the outside than the inside.

First comment, but I’ve been reading for a long time…
I scanned all the comments, and almost all fot hem are praises: ‘Go us, we’re weird and we’re proud of it!’ … That is soemthing to be proud of, to be yourself, to be unique, but at the same time, I intially wanted to post something like what Ben said.

We’re ALL special and unique and different, and do ‘odd’ things here and there, but that’s the thing.
That’s all of us. So by its own silly definition, we’re pretty much ALL normal. (I mean, except some of those in insane asylums.)
Normal and weird, simultaniously.

Whatever you do, whoever you are, you’re you, just like everybody else.
I’m sure people are going to hate me for this comment. Is it because I think differently than the majority? Does that make me weirder than accepted weirdnesses? I don’t really care, but I did want to bring this defintion of normal/weird to … anybody’s attention.😀

Masterpiece! This is my favorite, absolutely, because I know what people are like and this comic is a lot of what people are like. Things that you don’t always really pick up on, either, but when you do, it’s a mini revelation. I’ve got the #6 thing going on in a big way except some other times I’m alternating between playing kiddie games and reading the news. But it’s funny, right, because you’re illustrating that everyone’s really sort of freaky but we’re all going ‘I’m totally like #1,’ just like I did. Weird? Weird.

Reminds me of the bit in Life of Brian, where the crowd outside Brian’s window shouts in unison “We’re all different!”, and a lone voice pipes up after; “I’m not.”

Winston, why not post a link to a high res PDF of each strip (behind a PayPal link of course!) for people worldwide to download and take to their local printer, rather than mucking about with organising printing, worldwide dispatch etc yourself?

Hey Winston Rowntree, happy 500th page! I’ve been reading you faithfully ever since I saw The Line (and I went through all the prior Subnormality pages too). Your insights and your way of expressing them are a real benefit to anyone who sees them.

Wow. Just… wow. One of the best (along with ‘the line’). What makes them so great is probably because it comes from you, kinda unexpected.
And Bearfoot? I would totally buy that t-shirt. White shirt with just ‘WEIRD’ (with the teal ‘R’) on the front.
Seriously. That was amazing.

my husband thinks he’s normal.
but he’s so wonderfully quirky.
i’d love it if he could see it because he’d take it easier on the rest of us.
oh, so…
there are people that think they’re normal and everyone else is weird. it must be a lonely place.

This is one of your amazing comics that makes me proud to be a fan. I’m totally identifying with the ‘never smiles but is always happy’ one…gah! how are you so introspective and wise?! xD very nice comic dude

This is one of the best things I’ve read in 2009. I mean, out of the entire year of reading everything on the internet voraciously. I’m one of those all night guys who is rarely even distracted by porn. I find the odd places and read about them. I study economics and physics online.

I’ve read hundreds of books this year. This comic is better than most of them.

The only remote criticism I could ask for is to tone-down the male-bashing, but maybe you don’t even see it as that. Some of your comics lose it in the end where you slam the gender, but then you might be trying to retain the other gender as readers…

I really like this page. Makes total sense. I believe in this wholeheartedly. People really need to stop making stereotypes and get down to the face that most people aren’t normal. And no one ever will be. =D

Again I’m in awe. I hope, in case you haven’t visited the Charter for Compassion yet, that you’ll look over their discussion boards on FB. You have an enormous gift to share in the very best possible cause. They need you.

Beautiful strip. This is definitely one of my favorites. I love the use of color in this one, and the specific color choice is spot on. It’s really striking, and yet subtle enough that it doesn’t distract.

Sir,
(I am assuming you are a sir, because I reckon you drew yourself in this comic at one point. Hmm… unless you have wings and claws? If you drew yourself, and have wings and claws, then please replace ‘Sir’ with ‘Madam’. If you have pink hair, then can I enquire after your marital status? Actually, if you have wings and claws, can I enquire after your marital status? I’m just curious you understand. What’s your favourite flower? Okay… I’m drifting.)

Dear Sir or Possibly Madam (or Other if applicable),
Many times in the reading of these comics, I have felt the urge to write and say “Dude, lay off with the truth.” Many times I’ve had the soul-destroying experience of reading one of these and thinking “Oh god, that’s me, there I am, stuck and unable to escape my worthless life and becoming bitter and being chased by cybernetic dinosaurs and stuff, this is exactly what’s wrong with my life, and it’ll never get any better, because I can’t draw comix”. But for once, here, you’ve managed to bring us some truth that’s uplifting and hopeful, for we are all individuals and that’s what’s best about us. I fit into several of these catagories, and I’m proud of it! (No, I will not tell you which ones. I will, however, try eating paper shortly to see if I can further increase my score).

Oh, and do something to get pink-haired girl out of that restaurant and get her hair back to it’s natural color, please.

Hi.❤
I'd just like to say, this completely made my night. The entire webcomic is astounding, and this strip is the best of the lot.
I saw it, I read it, I laughed and thought "that's me, that's so completely me".

Now you see, I have this large empty poster shaped space on my wall, and I would love having something to put up there.

Holy Whatever is Holy, this is Solid Gold of Pure Awesomeness! dude you rule. i always ‘Wierdness’ just being a tag given by the frustrated ones among us to the more happier ones among us, the stifled ones in awe of those who appear more ‘free’ and the ones with a false sense of ‘superiority’..

I was so taken by this strip that I have posted a writeup and link of it on my blog. believe you wont mind🙂.

Please give more like these.. Brilliant. Yours is my all time favorite Webcomix. never seen anything like it.

Thank you so much for this comic. Virtually everytime I’ve gotten in a conversation with someone who’s doubted themselves because others have told them they’re “not normal,” I link them to this comic. They get a good laugh out of it and usually end up seeing their weirdness as something beautiful versus something to be squashed out. =P Thanks so much for writing this.

I define “normal” as “lacking in major psychoses and personality disorders.” I feel this encapsulates almost everyone within a few standard deviations of the mean on almost every dimension. By my definition, almost everyone is normal. And I’m normal, too.

I just added the quote
“There are people with the same hidden opinions and fantasies and together their thoughts are a silent parallel where secrets are few” to my Facebook page. ;D It may sound silly, but I think this comic just changed my life.

I’ve been reading your comics on and off for what seems along time, especially since I’m fairly young, and I have to say: its seriously effected my outlook on life, how I view people/strangers, and coincidently, my personality (for the better(?)). Or maybe your comics and general philosophy are mirror to what my personality was destined to be/is?..

This one, is just lovely. Ive so far read most of the comics i could, up to now.
I like the thought behind this, that “There are no -normal- people, but real people”, it just makes me smile when i got a downer for some reason.
Ironically i found this one in lolpics, and decided to follow ye olde’ link down there. And man am i not regreting it.
Well done, can count me as a fan😀

Haha, this one reminds me of a big philosophical arguement I used to have in school about how nobody is actually totally ‘normal.’ Everyone in their own way is weird, and THAT is what normal is! If there was ever someone who was totally by-the-book, definitively normal… That’d be the weirdest fucking person ever! Hurrah. Normal weirdness in personable amounts!

Of course, there will never be a way to properly indicate how poignantly and cleverly your comics expose all those ‘little life truths’, so the most I can do is give you a big cyber hug and tell you you’re awesome.

Not to be a bother, but could you put “like” buttons for facebook on your comics? Or a share button? Because I keep posting them on facebook hoping someone will click through the link, but if there was a share button, the post would come with a picture and I think people would be far more likely to click on it if they saw what they were getting at the end of that blue text. Anyway, love you immensely.

Not to be a bother, but could you put “like” buttons for facebook on your comics? Or a share button? Because I keep posting them on facebook hoping someone will click through the link, but if there was a share button, the post would come with a picture and I think people would be far more likely to click on it if they saw what they were getting at the end of that blue text. Anyway, love you immensely.

I’ve got a poster of this framed in front of me, and that’s been tickling me since first seeing it. Immediate opinion – it’s a different coloured letter, but it’s still a letter – important enough in any colour to be a part of the alphabet, and the fact it’s blue poses one question in four ways:

Why is it blue?
Why are the others black?
Why is it not black?
Why are the others not blue?

I know you asked for opinions not koans, but I think to answer your question it needs to be thought of in that way. Or not.

Ok then! When I first started thinking about it it bothered me because it felt like I was missing something. Now I still don’t understand but I like it that way, if that makes sense… At least I understand that it’s not supposed to make sense. Anyway thank you for enlightening me!

I think the closest you get to normal people are people who try to be normal. For whatever reason they not only think normal is something you can be, but something worth striving to be. I expect it has something to do with generalizing people instead of looking at them as individuals, combined with trying to be someone other than yourself. From a distance, a group of people can seem normal, and if you never see them up close that’s all you have to emulate.

Great comic!
Normal is a strange term that indicates common characteristics. The moment after birth when we take our first breath is the only experience we all share, making it the only “normal” thing in our life. After that, our experiences vary and shape who we are and we define our own standard of “normal” and whether we live up to it or not.
In conclusion, I’m the standard for “normal”! Tremble in fear!

LOVE IT. Weird is a compliment in our family. “Mommy, tell me again how I’m weird,” is a frequent request around here. I am, by the way, three of the people in your list. But you left out the one about people who use their iPhones to light the way to the chicken coop on those nights when yoga class runs late.

So I came onto this site and found the new ‘Happy 5th Anniversary’ comic. I loved it.
Then I decided to come back to this one, the one that introduced me to the whole project.
Still amazing after all this time.
Cheers for all the weirdos, truly a trait to embrace.

This strip really hits home with me.
I’ve always been a weird kid. In 4th grade a girl gave me “normal lessons”. It was my first year at that school and I had one friend, a jerk of a girl who bullied me.
By the middle of seventh grade, I had no friends, no one to talk to, was bullied not only by students but by teachers, and while at school, I felt like I was going to die.
Once I got home, I was okay. So finally we took me out of school.
I now go to a school for kids like me- “the outcasts of the outcasts,” one student called us. We have our issues. One friend misses school often because of her anxiety. I have had a panic attack during school. We have the quiet room and three counselors. One time I looked myself in a bathroom for three hours.
At my school, its okay. Its not a good thing that we fall apart or miss class, but its okay.
However…
I still remember the feeling of having no friends. Of being weird.
I am weird.
But no one’s normal, so thats okay.
-An austic girl with anxiety and ADHD who finally can be herself.

i kinda got emotional over your comment. it felt like getting shivers over a good song. i had a past like yours. and i want you to know you write really well. -an 18 year old child with add and a social curse.

I will turn 60 this year, and this seems like something I would have seen when I was 18. I wouldn’t have known how true it is then, (and I wouldn’t have “Stumbled” upon it on the internet then either). Very Cool. – Curt

You say there is no normal.
And yet over 80% of the other comments are essentially parroting the same thing. The wording varies, but the message doesn’t.
They all agree… in essentially the same way. The trivial differences are just decoration.
It is pretty much just like that scene from The Life of Brian.
You know the one I’m talking about.

Well, this is the bit where I pipe up and say “I’m not!” … and then someone shh’s me.

Anyway… I’ve always took pride in my differences.
Yet I know for the most part they’re just decoration. I know because in the few aspects where they aren’t, being different is a social death-sentence… and quite often a physical death-sentence too. And I cover up those differences by dressing in strange suits, or acting up in public, or whatever… You know the routine. Act like an attention whore to get people to ignore you. The best kind of reverse psychology.

What I suppose I’m getting at is that for all your supposed feel-good nonsense aimed at those who strive to remain ON the bell-curve, you are demeaning those of us who are unavoidably outside the two standard deviations.
There is a normal. And there are those who have green hair. And there are those who think of everything in terms of Flash Gordon references. And there are those who inspire to make a home on an electric pylon (or “transmission tower” as you might call them).
All quirks. Pointless, silly little quirks, held by normal people with normal lives.
Weird is for those of us who get reported to the police, locked away in mental institutions or just plain hospitals, get reactions of disgust and / or pity from anyone we might just try to interact with.
Weird is when EVERY SINGLE DAY is like Kafka’s Metamorphosis, and every single stranger is an alien outsider existing for the sole purpose of ensuring we’re in perpetual hell.
Weird is when you see people afraid to come out of the closet for being gay, and you just raise an eyebrow because you’re a necrophiliac and playing in a whole different ballpark.

Weird is for when you have nothing else left to fall back on. When all that keeps you going is knowing that someone has to be different so that everyone else can feel better about themselves.
And the hilarious thing is… we’re not all that different either. We’re “just different enough” that we stand out as freaks, but still somehow manage to survive. Millions die each year due to essentially being “too different”, and nobody even bats an eyelid.

… Actually, y’know what. It doesn’t matter. I just like to rant about stuff. I’m a self-parody. Like the look of my own text. Hate the sound of my own voice. Is why I type a lot and hardly speak at all.
But really now. You guys are normal and I’m weird. If you guys start being “weird”, you’ll just think of a new, more derogatory term for such as myself.
Can’t we just stop this game?

You know the appendix? ,,,yea that little bit that connects the smaller intestine to the big intestine and is prone to malfunctioning spectacularly (and potentially deadly) in some.
That part which we’re told is was used to process cellulose and other useless gunk but is fully regressed in modern-day humans?
Well, paper is mostly cellulose and binding-agents(i.e. glue).

And then there’s this hype around “eating fiber” to somehow get people to lower their caloric intake while still stuffing their bloated digestive sacks somehow.
Wanna guess what the main ingredient in those wonder-slushies and “whole-wheat” breads is? …that’s right :}

I don’t eat paper tho …for the same reason i didn’t eat paste as a kid and still refuse to eat garlic-scented meat-jellies as a grown-up xP
If it looks weird and smells weird …i ain’t ingesting it.

And the there are people who are on the internet until researching underground political groups trying to trace where all the money stolen from the developing world is going, or reaching a programming bug for work. All the while while reading great web comics such as this one.
Cheers